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Needing Advice Please!

I am seriously considering becomming a vegetarian and I'm wanting advice as to how to go about it, how to discuss it with my family, etc. Just any advice in general. If anyone could help that'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Melissa the best reason to become vegan is for the sake of the animals. Its hard for people to understand the health benefits, the environmental benefits, etc. But cut off their dog's nose, slit its neck and let it bleed to death upside down and then blow torch its fur off and deep fry it, and that they will understand... Cows/Chickens/Pigs are all the same as Dogs. Kind loving animals that deserve our respect. Dairy is just as cruel. There is no human animal agriculture. We're just so far removed from what it takes to feed billions of people animal products. Just do some googling and I'm sure you're eyes will open.

Spencer Hurley, now 12, had always been a little hesitant about, as he says, "eating dead animals."

"It made me sad how people can kill them and eat them without thinking about it," he said.

But when his much-admired fifth grade math teacher told the class about how meat was processed, Spencer, who lives in Glastonbury, became really grossed out. A short time later he visited an human body exhibit. Seeing how closely human inner muscles compared to the meat we eat convinced him. At age 10, he went vegetarian.

For Catherine Moon, 15, of Wolcott, it started in the seventh grade when she was "getting into peace and hippy things." She thought she'd eventually become a vegetarian, but she got the extra boost when she met a girl from Scotland who didn't eat meat because her parents feared Mad Cow disease. Becoming a vegetarian, she said, "just fit into my belief system."

Megan Brookman of Hartford used to have a McDonald's burger every Friday. But at age 12, she started thinking more about how she didn't like the way animals were treated. She also felt she would be healthier if she stopped eating meat.

"My mom wasn't about to let me (go vegetarian)," Megan said, "but I talked her into it somehow."

For omnivorous parents, it can come as a shock when their hamburger-munching child announces, "I'm going vegetarian."

It appears that more and more parents are getting this news, though the data on youthful vegetarians is scant. The poll results most often cited were commissioned by the Vegetarian Resource Group. These include a 2005 poll done by Harris Interactive that showed 3 percent of 8 to 18-year-olds don't eat meat, poultry or seafood, a slightly higher percentage than found a decade earlier in a Roper poll done for the group.

These polls also showed that the rate of vegetarians appears to be increasing more rapidly among girls than boys. In 1995, there were about as many girls as boys who said they were vegetarian; in 2005, twice as many girls as boys said they were vegetarian.

The percentage of kids who follow the even more stringent vegan diet — avoiding all animal products, including milk, cheese and eggs — also appears to be on the increase.

While in past eras, parents of would-be vegetarian children might have told their offspring to forget it, today's parents seem far more ready to support their kids' efforts.

But that doesn't mean they don't worry about whether their child is getting proper nourishment. Nor does it mean they are particularly thrilled about the prospect of having to prepare special vegetarian meals.

Whole Foods, Green Causes
For pre-teens and teens, a decision to go vegetarian runs counter to much of what we know about teens, according to Rob Callender, trend director for TRU (formerly known as Teen Research Unlimited). "Teens are a life stage where they don't love additional rules regarding what they can and can't do."

However, he said, "somewhere between rebellion and expression of individuality" are the kids who develop an interest in vegetarianism.

Callender said there is "a growing emphasis" among teens with eating healthfully that "probably goes hand in hand with whole foods and green causes."

At a recent lunch at the all-girls boarding school, Miss Porter's School in Farmington, a table-full of vegetarians each assembled a different vegetarian meal from the cafeteria line.

Catherine Moon, who is lunching on two dill pickles and hummus, said, "I'm not one of the those people who very much loves animals, but I didn't want anything to die as a result of me needing food." She also believes that environmentally, it's better to eat lower on the food chain.

Like many kids, Sasha Agins, a 15-year-old from Hartford with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, said she began thinking about vegetarianism when she saw a video about a slaughterhouse. This was a few years ago and she went vegetarian, but only for a few days. She wasn't ready to give up the spicy Spanish sausage or the shrimp tempura. But as she became more environmentally aware — after a "a ton of research on natural resources" — she went vegetarian about 18 months ago. "I'm an earth nut."

She said she wasn't doing it to lose weight, but if she lost weight that would be OK, too.

Jennifer Roach, a sophomore from Avon who is having organic roasted squash and organic vegetable pizza, said she went veggie for the same reasons many kids cite — to save animals, the environment and her health. "But if I was on a desert island and there was nothing else to eat, I might eat fish," said Jennifer.

"I wouldn't," said Sasha.

Sasha's mother, Cara Agins, said she "really respects her daughter for her decision to go vegetarian. I think it's a way of life with kids today. They don't believe in furs, they don't believe in killing animals. They are very true to what they say they want to do. She is not someone who is disciplined, but she has stuck to it."

Hi umm can anyone tell me some gd vegan supplements I can get as I think quite alot of them have dairy?!? soz i was vegetarian but recently converted and I think that for any meateater considering becoming vegan u should try going vegetarian first and then go vegan, otherwise it can come as a shock to your body. Anyways I've been vegetarian since 2 so all i know is vegetarian food not vegan, got any ideas guys as I am kindof a fussy eater :S cutting out chocolate is very difficult but i have stayed off for 2 weeks and now hopefully forever. (although if anyone knows of vegan chocolate plz let me know). anyways ideas plz guys!

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